Stop this silly craze

 

Many utilities and businesses are now going paperless to "save the planet". I don't understand this. Is the planet made of paper? 

These businesses send invoices and communications by e-mail in order to go totally paperless. Now we get empty envelopes instead. How am I to know who sent the envelope so that I can reply? 

I have complained to said utilities and businesses by sending them empty envelopes back. Not one has replied. And it is difficult following a paper trail.

This paperless craze has caught on with Internet shops too. I ordered some printing paper for my printer on-line and they sent me empty packages and boxes.  

Our supermarkets no longer sell toilet paper. You can buy an empty inner roll but not all the paper that surrounds it. Instead, they sell small packets of perforations and they advise you to use them instead.

The home improvements shops no longer sell wallpaper and suggest you use paint. 

Stationers don't stock writing paper, notepads, or birthday and other cards. But they have empty envelopes for you to send instead. No wrapping paper for gifts either. 

Paper bags for shopping are being stopped as well as anything else made of paper like paper napkins, handkerchiefs, and even newspapers. Our newsagent has closed down and the tobacconist now sells the tobacco loose instead of cigarettes. 

Can you imagine a paperless world? No more books and no more libraries. All books will be electronically made and sold. No more instruction manuals on how to use your new oven, fridge, car or whatever. No more music sheets for musicians in an orchestra. No more menus at a restaurant. No more paper confetti to throw at married couples and at parades. Everything will be electronically made and used.

I'm off to the bathroom with a packet of perforations and an electronic tablet!   

How about you? Have you gone paperless yet?

The set-backs of modern technology

 

I have been given as a gift one of these new electronic contraptions. It is the size of a cell-phone, flat, about two inches by four. You fit it in your pocket and you can listen to books being read to you whilst you're walking, or on the bus, or whatever.

I am presently reading through my ears Samuel Johnson's "History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia". Very gripping. Having just finished listening to James Joyce's "Portrait of the artist as a young man"; and "On ne badine pas avec l'amour" by Alfred de Musset.

The contraption comprises of a white lead which you insert into the machine at one end, and the other end it has two ear-pieces which act as mini speakers when you put them in your ears to listen.

I normally put the machine in my jacket pocket and all one can see is the lead to my ears as I walk happily in the park or wherever I choose to walk.

I also like to listen to books being read to me when swimming at the local municipal baths. Especially books about swimming styles. I originally learnt to swim by reading a book, but all the pages got wet. Pity this new contraption had not been invented back then.

Anyway, the two ear-pieces you put in your ears have been water-proofed. They are OK to be used whilst you are in the water. But unfortunately the contraption itself is not water-proof. I cannot insert it into my swimming trunk pants and jump in the water happily. I was warned about that.

I tried leaving the contraption at the side of the pool, but I could not swim very far because the white lead connecting it to my ears was too short.

A friend of mine bought me a new white lead six metres long, so I could leave the contraption on the side of the pool and swim happily to the story of Captain Ahab and the white whale by Herman Melville. Unfortunately, the lead got in the way of the other swimmers who complained that I was restricting their enjoyment of the municipal bath which, as the name implies, is meant to be a public place and not one for the sole use of myself.

So I now only use the contraption whilst walking, or on the bus, or when watching something boring on TV, or my wife is speaking.

Modern technology is good. But not that good.

Is it OK to ask Jesus to pray for us?

 

Give to God that which is God’s

 

May I direct you to a sermon by Father Jonathan E Moore describing the history and characters at the time of Jesus. Please CLICK HERE.

Defining Question

 

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If Jesus spoke to you today

what would you want to hear Him say?

Bring me sunshine

 

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Morecambe and Wise 

The long drive home

 

Just got home after a long long drive. I won't bore you with the details and the standard of driving we encountered on the journey.

But it got me thinking ... and I don't mean to be sacrilegious folks ...  

What kind of driver Jesus would have been if He had a car?

Let's think about this seriously for a while. When driving we all meet with different standards of behaviours out there. We have to make quick decisions, safe decisions and drive at a standard which would be exemplary to everyone even when we're very tired and our concentration is not at its best.

So the question is: Do we drive as Jesus would have driven if He had a car?

Where do we fall below the standard required?

Human Values

 

If da Vinci had hidden his Mona Lisa painting somewhere secret and no one had seen it except himself, would that have made it more or less valuable than it is now?

The Mona Lisa painting is unique. Why is it more, (or less), valuable than any other unique painting by any other artist?

Why is there a different value placed on different paintings by different artists? They are all unique in their own way.

Why does someone want to pay so much money for a unique painting? Someone may have one painting, someone else may have another. Does it really matter who owns which painting and their relative values?

How about other items such as antique furniture, jewellery, signed autographed books or photos and such like old items? Why are they valued so highly? Someone might have an antique delicate piece of pottery or porcelain, and someone else may have an old coin from many years gone by. Why the high values on each item and why one higher than the other?

What about people? We are all unique in our own way. What value do we place on people? And why do we value someone more, (or less), than someone else?

P.S. I have been told not to autograph my books because it cheapens their value and spoils the book. 

On the Radio

 

As some of my regular readers will know, some years ago, I used to present a Christian radio program called Time For Reflections. 

I have managed to retrieve some old tapes which I have put together in a folder called Reflections Soundtracks (See the link at the top of this page).

You may wish to listen to some of these Christian broadcasts by clicking the link above, or click the picture of the radio above. Or even click the radio on the right hand column of this Blog.

 Here below is one of those broadcasts:

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Don't give up 

Miss You Nights

 

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Cliff Richard 

 

 

Je ne comprends pas

 

The other day I attended a business conference in another town. The meeting was open to people from various organisations from many different countries, so there were plenty of people I had never met before.

I was standing in this large area with my briefcase at my feet enjoying a cup of coffee when this very attractive brunette lady wearing a very low cut black décolleté dress a few sizes too short approached me and started talking in Greek.

I couldn't understand a word she said. It was all Greek to me, as they say. I knew she spoke in Greek because a distant aunt of mine (she lives 300 miles away) is Greek and I could make out the language even though I could not understand what this young lady was saying.

I regretted not having my dictionary with me at the time. Not that it would have helped. It's an Italian dictionary. I like to carry it with me to impress the waiters in restaurants when I order a meal. I once ordered a whole meal in Italian and the waiter did not understand a word. It was a Chinese restaurant. But I digress.

Anyway, this young lady was enthusiastic about something or other and she talked fast in her native Greek and smiled a lot.

My mind went back to the many times I visited my aunt and I tried to remember some of the Greek words I had heard in her household. Words like youvarlakia, avgolemono, dolmades and baklava.

But I could hardly spout them out incoherently just because they were in Greek. Besides, they mean meat balls, chicken and lemon soup, stuffed vine leaves and a pastry sweet with syrup. Can you imagine a woman speaking to me in Greek and I reply "meatballs!" She'd think I was insulting her and not believing a word she is saying.

Try as I might to look blankly at her and saying politely, "Yo no hablo español !!!" she still continued smiling and speaking in Greek without as much as taking a breath.

I then remembered the famous Voltaire quote and said, "I may not understand a word you are saying, but I will defend to the death your right to confuse me!"

She stopped for a while, perhaps wondering why I replied in English, then continued speaking to me in Greek as if nothing had happened.

It was then I remembered another phrase which my dear aunt used to say, time and again, to her daughter. I repeated it silently in my head once or twice to get the intonation and the pronunciation right and then, taking a deep breath, I said, "I foústa sas eínai polý mikrí ..."

The woman stopped abruptly and then slapped me in the face. She then turned round and walked away and vanished in the crowd of people in the conference room.

I just about managed to hold on to my cup of coffee and save it from crashing to the floor. I tried to compose myself and look as if nothing had happened, hoping that no one noticed me.

It was then that a man approached me and asked me, "Why did you tell her 'Your skirt is too short?' "  

This was an excerpt from my book 

SPEAKING FROM MY SOCK

Paperback and Kindle from AMAZON

CLICK HERE

 

Juke Box

 

Yesterday Mevely asked me to install a Juke Box. OK ... here it is above and on the right hand margin ----->  ----->  ----->

 

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Barry Manilow 

Only the lonely

 

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Roy Orbison 

 

 

Vision and Perspective

 

It was a clear night. I looked up to the sky and there was a clear full moon. It was bright and shining white. I could also see a lot of stars twinkling up there. I wondered if any of them were planets. Some much bigger than earth like Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter; known as gas giants.   

I was in awe. How could these big circles, or globes, be up there hanging in mid-air, clearly visible and shining so bright? 

It suddenly was very real to me. I always took the moon and stars for granted. Seen but not noticed. Like so many things in our lives that we do not appreciate or value until they are no more.

I wondered about the grandeur of it all. They did not just happen to be there. Someone put them there.

I stood there watching as a frisson ran down my spine.

Last night, the moon and stars spoke to me.

They said, "Get inside you fool before you catch your death of cold!"

You see, life is all about the vision and perspective we have. We could see things and not notice them, or we could consider their significance in our lives and our very existence. 

A problem can be an insurmountable obstacle or a molehill. Or perhaps an opportunity in disguise.

It's all a matter of the right vision, the right perspective and ... an unshakable Faith.

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Johnny Nash

Have you heard God?

 

Imagine God spoke to you. 

You are alone at home, perhaps in your garden, or you are out on a walk in the countryside or by the sea, and God spoke to you.

How would He sound like?

Would He have a loud baritone voice like that of Morgan Freeman in the film Evan Almighty? Or would He sound like George Burns in the film Oh God!? Or would He sound like Jesus, a soft kind voice, like in all the films on TV and the cinema?

And what would He say to you to stop you from being traumatised and frightened out of your mind?

Whatever He said would certainly shake you like nothing ever before.

I wonder, why doesn't God speak clearly to us today as He did in the Old Testament times? We know He spoke to the prophets and to people like Abraham, Moses and others like Noah and Jonah; so why not speak to us today?

Actually, it is because we humans (or our ancestors to be precise) asked Him not to. At the time of Moses God spoke loudly.  

The Israelites heard the voice of God clearly and were frightened that they would die, so they asked Moses to go and listen to God and relay His messages to the people. They asked God to stop talking; and God agreed. (Deuteronomy 5:23 onwards ...)

However, since then and up to now, God continues to speak to people softly in their souls. It may not be a loud voice as in the times of Moses, but He does speak to us - you and me - if only we are willing to listen.

And before you ask ... when God is speaking to you He makes sure you know it is Him speaking to you.